MIZELL STEWART: The smartest guy in the room

Vincent Bertram's decision to leave the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation at the end of the current school year to lead a national education organization was not particularly surprising.

The timing of his departure, though, means he will be far away from Evansville when the long-term impact of his leadership is fully realized.

The former teacher, high school principal and district administrator brought considerable strengths to Evansville when he arrived four years ago. Those strengths bore fruit through Bertram's ability to forge a broad community consensus for what arguably has been the most sweeping set of changes to the local school corporation in decades.

A new North High School/Junior High complex continues to rise at the intersection of U.S. Highway 41 and Baseline Road. Renovations are underway or have been completed at school buildings throughout the county, courtesy of a $149 million bond issue approved by voters in November 2008.

New curriculum models and expanded teacher training are being implemented. New teacher contracts are in place. Early childhood education has been made a priority and there are the much-ballyhooed and oft-criticized netbook computers issued to high school students.

Meanwhile, student performance appears to be on the rise -- though again, the full impact of these initiatives may be years away.

Bertram's predecessor, Bart McCandless, presided over just the opposite -- voter defeat of a property tax referendum in 2003 and a series of cuts, from full-time school nurses to full-day kindergarten, which has since been restored. All told, there was a pervasive sense that Indiana's third-largest school district was on the decline. McCandless was forced out by the board in 2006, citing ineffective leadership.

The result was that Bertram arrived in a community that was eager to feel good about its schools again. He capitalized on that sentiment by gathering public input for his plans in a whirlwind series of community meetings held day and night, even midnight. In so doing, he directly addressed those who suggest that decisions are made around here with a lack of input and citizen involvement.

When pressured on the issue of whether or not the 2008 bond issue needed to go to a voter referendum, it went to the ballot -- again directly addressing the question on the table. The referendum passed handily, with seven in 10 voters in favor.

The board, freed in record time from constantly being on the defensive, put its full-throated support behind Bertram and his initiatives, even when the rationale behind a few was a bit sketchy.

A case in point was the transfer of a school administration building to the EVSC Foundation to facilitate its renovation -- a move described by critics as one intended to circumvent requirements for competitive bidding. Several contractors who did not have the opportunity to bid on the work later sued the school corporation, and the lawsuit is still pending.

Some difficult challenges were sidestepped and outright avoided, notably the EVSC's continued struggle to further diversify the ranks of building principals and district administrators.

(For the record, don't get me started on the silly idea to start high school at 9 a.m.)

For all his strengths, including the ability to forge consensus, the courage to try new ideas and the will to stand up to challenges, you occasionally got the sense that Bertram was the smartest guy in the room and that he knew it. That confidence, bolstered by the successful 2008 bond issue, occasionally seemed to cow the school board, which rushed to extend his contract.

That sense also contributed to the feeling that Bertram, despite his considerable political skills, was above the rough-and-tumble of being an urban school superintendent. That's why his decision to become CEO of Project Lead the Way, a New York state-based not-for-profit that develops curriculum in science, technology and math, was no great surprise.

On balance, however, Vanderburgh County schoolchildren are better off as the result of Bertram's leadership. If the board agrees, it will choose a new superintendent who will finish the job that he started.